Elizabeth
The silk of my dress whispered around my legs as I stood still, breathing slow in front of the mirror.
My hands, usually so steady in the face of chaos, trembled.
Ten months. That’s how long it’s been since Noah asked me to take a walk with him beneath the cherry blossoms. Ten months of learning each other’s scars.
Ten months of building a quiet, fierce kind of love.
And now, here I was — about to become his wife.
My reflection didn’t look like the girl who used to come back from missions bruised and silent. She looked... radiant. Hopeful. Terrified.
A soft knock tapped at the door, and I already knew the rhythm. My mother.
“Come in,” I whispered, not trusting my voice.
She stepped inside, eyes shining with unshed tears, her hands immediately covering her mouth as she looked at me.
“Oh, Lizzie…”
Her voice broke, and just like that, so did the last layer of calm I was clinging to. I turned to her, blinking fast.
“I’m nervous, Mom. Like, bone-deep nervous. What if I’m not enough? What if I mess it up?”
She crossed the room and cupped my face like she did when I was little.
“Sweetheart, listen to me. You’ve been through warzones and walked through fire for people you love. And now, you’re walking into something softer, something that wants to hold you back. That’s what love is. You don’t have to be perfect for it. You just have to be present.”
I fell into her arms, holding on a little tighter than I meant to.
“He loves me so much it scares me.”
She kissed my temple.
“And you love him the same. That’s all that matters.”
The music started. My breath caught in my throat.
Each step down the aisle was a heartbeat — steady, sure, pulsing with all the silent prayers I never said out loud. The petals scattered along the grass, and the soft summer light made everything golden. But all I saw was him.
Noah.
He was standing there in a tailored black suit, a soft breeze tugging at a lock of his dark hair. But it was his eyes that undid me. They weren’t just looking at me — they were memorizing me, like this moment would be etched into him forever.
As I reached him, he took my hand with this fierce, grounding grip, and suddenly, I wasn’t nervous anymore. I was home.
The officiant said something, I think — I only half-heard it. My heartbeat was louder. My soul louder still. Then it was time for my vows.
I faced him fully and tried not to cry.
“Noah… I used to think love was something you survived. Something that cost more than it gave. But you—” my voice cracked, “You were patient. You listened when I was silent. You stayed when I tried to push you away. I never thought I could be seen the way you see me. And now I never want to look away from the life we’ve built together.
I promise to love you when it’s easy, and especially when it’s not. ”
A tear slipped down my cheek, and he brushed it away with his thumb.
Then he began his.
His voice was low and steady, thick with emotion.
“Elizabeth. You are the calm in my storm. The first light after every shadow. Before you, I didn’t know what it meant to be chosen.
Not out of duty. Not out of desperation.
But chosen — over and over — because no one else would ever be enough.
You have been my fire and my softness, my armor and my peace.
And I swear, with every breath I have, to never let you feel unheard again.
You are not just my love, Liz. You are my beginning, my middle, and my last line.
And I will write you into every story of my life. ”
I was crying before he even finished. Not just tears, but something deeper — something that felt like release.
He leaned forward, gently, reverently, and kissed me. And when our lips met, I felt it: the silence breaking inside me, the ache of every year I spent trying to earn love that was always withheld.
My father never heard me. Not truly. But Noah… Noah heard me even in my silence. And for the first time in my life, I knew I was loved — not for what I could do or how strong I could be — but for exactly who I was.
And that… that was everything.
Thank you for reading Unheard. I am currently working on the last book in the Glenrich series Unwanted. Liam and Mary’s story. It will be wonderful so grab those tissues. I will give you a small snippet of their story and I hope you become excited about it.
Yours truly,